what is the purpose of affirmative action?

Answer 1

To give jobs to unqualified people based on their race.

Answer 2

The purpose of affirmative action was to ensure that bigot industries were forced to do the right thing and hire people of all races and gender without discrimination.
It hasn't, however; proved to work very well.
Some people abuse this power...on both sides.
What should a company do?
They have two applicants for the same job. One is white with a perfect resume and is perfect for the job. The other applicant is a minority race. His application, while good, is not stellar. The company has not met it's quota for hiring minorities. Do they pick the better qualified person or do they pick the person who is a minority so they don't get fined and thought of as racially discriminating?
What if a minority is the perfect candidate for a job against a white person? Say they give the job to the minority and it just so happens that they actually needed to hire a minority to meet their quota. That's not why they hired this individual. It just was a coincident. Now this minority person is stuck wondering if they were hired on their merits or because of a quota. The other employees are also thinking the same thing. Some employees who are racist or chauvinistic may make things difficult for this employee because they think the whole concept of affirmative action is wrong. Even some people who are not racist or chauvinistic might be upset thinking someone was hired, not because they worked hard and are qualified, just like they had to do, but because of their race or gender. Now they are upset too. And, unfortunately, there have been times when minorities (be it race or gender) have filed false claims against companies stating that they were discriminated agaist. This is especially disturbing behavior because it undermines those who have ligitimate claims.
It's really a catch 22. You're darned if you do and you're darned if you don't.

Answer 3

It's a misguided effort to correct the effects of past injustices within our society.

Unfortunately, by forcing favoritism towards one race at the expense of another race, the policy creates resentment and rage, and eventually results in violent retribution.

It's exactly the same situation as when the oppressive tyranny of Reconstruction was forced on the South immediately following the War Between the States.

You see what came out of that - - - white people had to protect themselves.

We don't learn from the lessons of history, do we?

Answer 4

To counterbalance the effects of past and present discrimination.

In other words, after centuries of discrimination, it is not enough to simply pass laws against the discrimination. It is naive to think that these suddenly level the playing field.

First, the minority class is still starting from disadvantage because of those centuries of discrimination. These are disadvantages in terms of economics, education, culture, and lack of role models and mentors.

Secondly, just passing laws does not suddenly end discrimination. There are many ways to hide discrimination (you don't have to tell some minority person why you are not hiring them). And in fact, the effects of racism and sexism are so insidious that many people are not aware that they are discriminating.

The purpose of affirmative action is to correct for the *continuing* effects of past and present discrimination.

Answer 5

It is an attempt to use law to balance inequities in the social structures of our nation. It fights discrimination by forcing diversity into areas of employment, education and others.

While the idea is good, it's practice is not always well applied or monitored in such a way as to properly judge its effectiveness.

Answer 6

Afirmative action is the practice of hiring and accepting into college people based on the color of their skin, ie any color other than white and can also refer to preferencial treatment for women. It was supposed to make up for the raw deal that blacks & other minorities got & llevel the playing field.

Answer 7

It was meant to create a level playing field for all people, however it has done just the opposite, it has tilted the field in favor of Minorities. But it also lowered the rate of pay for all participants!!

Answer 8

It's so the liberals can make sure there are enough minorities in jobs regardless if they weren't the best person for the job.

It's the damn liberals again!

Answer 9

a way to bring the white man down and reward people for being underachievers. I call it:

Dumbing Down America!!!

Answer 10

the original purpose is to get black people on equal footing with white people, but the political reason is to get votes from black people.